Be Willing to be Bumped on Flights

[lrjohnson]

Last year when travelling to Europe I could have gotten $800 worth of travel if I had been willing to be bumped to a later flight. (My friend and I talked about it too long and other folks volunteered first.)

Last month there were some overbooked flights when I was on my way home from London; by being willing to arrive in SF one hour later than usual (and change planes in NY versus LA) we were able to be upgraded to Business Class for both legs of the trip, plus I got to use the Lounge during my layover. (Man, it was my first time in Business Class and it was mighty fine. I can’t even imagine what goes down in First Class!)

Last night I was on a flight that had weight restrictions. If I wasn’t traveling for work, I could have volunteered to take a flight the next morning; had my motel and a dinner paid for, and gotten either $300 cash or $600 travel credit, fully transferable to a friend or family member. Flights in nearby gates seemed to have the same sort of thing going on: needing people willing to take later flights.

Keep yours ears open and being flexible might just be rewarding. For example, when I got bumped to business class, United had handed out a flyer saying if you are willing to be bumped you might get up to $1000 travel credit. I didn’t have much room to be totally bumped, because I had to go back to work, so I couldn’t score the grand, but the Business Class upgrade was certainly worth getting back an hour late!

[pearlieq]

I SO want to get bumped. The only times I've ever been offered I was with my godkids and they had to be back to school. Otherwise I would have taken it!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Ah, yes. Hubby took a bump (1) and got enough credit for me to make a flight later. On that flight out, I took a bump (2) and got another credit big enough to plan another trip. On the way home, bumped (3) again, but I had to take a flight with a layover. On the layover, guess what? Another bump! (4) So out of one paid RT trip we got four Round Trips. Well, on the fourth, I did have to chip in about $200 as it was more distant than the others. I was very fortunate to have the flexibility to do this. The waits were not long either.

[Reldon]

I had a chance to do this while flying to Canada. If I didnt already scheduled someone to pick me up from the other side, I would have done it. The flight was at 5 AM so I didn't want to call my friend and wake him up. It was a 200-400 dollar voucher they were offering.